Asia Cup: Why India should be wary of dangerous Sri Lanka

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said Team India was not taking Sri Lanka lightly despite the defending champions' poor run in the Asia Cup T20 tournament. He said Sri Lanka had the ability to punch above their weight as a pack. Ashwin also said it was important for India to understand the conditions in Bangladesh and change their approach accordingly.

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India Today Web Desk

New Delhi

February 29, 2016

UPDATED: March 1, 2016 11:19 IST

India have had a stupendous run in T20s recently but off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes his team needs to execute their skills perfectly on green top in Bangladesh in order to keep their winning form in tact.

"It is very important to know what conditions are thrown at you. You can't try and beat the conditions. It is very important to go back and understand that it will not spin a lot on these surfaces. That's why it is even more imperative that we try to bowl in good lengths, get away with our overs rather than looking to go for wickets," Ashwin said on the eve of India's Asia Cup tie against Sri Lanka.(Injury concerns haunt India, Parthiv likely to play vs SL)

"In T20 format, it is the pressure that gives you wickets rather than exact skill of the ball. That's what I look to do and when there is any window to attack I will attack irrespective of the wicket. It's T20 cricket, we might have slower wicket, flatter wickets in World T20. We have to understand situation rather than complaining about it. Testing ourselves in various environments is good for us," the off-spinner added.

The defending Asia Cup champions suffered a humiliating loss against hosts Bangladesh failing to chase a total of 147. Having lost their in-form skipper Lasith Malinga to an injury, Sri Lanka have an uphill task ahead of them in the tournament.

However, Ashwin said the Indian team was wary of the dangerous Sri Lanka. "There is a familiarity since only 10 teams play international cricket and once you have played couple of years, you are familiar with each opposition. Sri Lanka is a team we have played a lot and they can punch above their weight and play as a pack. I don't know if they are missing (Lasith) Malinga as he is a champion bowler," he said.

Ashwin said his team will not disrespect any opposition and will focus on every match in hand in the long T20 season.

"The kind of cricket we play is what's going to put us in best shape possible. We are looking at longer season of T20 in the next 3-4 months crossing the IPL. Opponent doesn't matter, not disrespecting anyone but we have to treat everyone with same respect," he said.

The Tamil Nadu off-spinner was all praise for Virat Kohli's gutsy knock against a fiery Pakistan bowling attack. He said Kohli's batting against Amir was one of "guts and courage" that gave the dressing room a lot of relief. ('Kohli vs Amir will replace Tendulkar vs Akhtar')

"We needed someone to stick his head out as Amir was going through a really good spell. We needed someone to show intent. Virat showed that intent while defending as well as attacking, which gave the dressing room a lot of comfort.

"Obviously, we knew that with a 20-30 run stand, the match will be over as it was not a huge score. From that perspective, Virat showed a lot of guts and courage and that was very encouraging," Ashwin said.

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